Plus-Size Boutique Bombshell to Close

by Jahna Peloquin

Published: September 2017

St. Paul plus-size boutique will close at the end of October

Courtesy Bombshell

Over the past couple of years, curvy girls have more stylish options available to them than ever, as the slow-to-adapt fashion industry has begun to embrace the size-inclusive movement. This fall is the best season to date when it comes to size inclusion, with major plus-size brands such as Lane Bryant teaming up with high-end designers such as Prabal Gurung and social media influencers including Girl with Curves, Gabi Fresh, and The 12ish Style creating collections.

But in the Twin Cities, there's still a dearth of places to shop for plus-size clothing in person, as most of the aforementioned collections are only available online and in larger cities. Now, local plus-size shoppers are losing yet another option with the announcement that plus-size indie boutique, Bombshell, is closing.

Since 2010, Bombshell has been the Twin Cities lone independent boutique catering exclusively to plus-size women. The Grand Avenue shop carries brands such as Tadashi Shoji, Lafayette 148, Elena Mirò, Cabiria, James Jeans in sizes 14 to 24, with an emphasis on dressing for day-to-night , date night, and holiday parties.

While owner Denise Alden wouldn't comment on the reason for the closing, some comments she made about the state of plus-size shopping in a story on the MNMO Style blog may shed some light:

“I don’t think it’s a Minnesota problem by any stretch of the imagination,” she said at the time, “because otherwise there’d be other plus-size boutiques in other parts of the country,” adding that Bombshell is only one of “seven or eight” independent, plus-size boutiques in the country. “They open and close a lot. It feels very cyclical."

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